The Iraqi Defense Ministry reported the arrest of Riyad Wahab Hassan Falih, deemed one of the most brutal agents of Al Qaida. Falih, along with nine other key alQaida cell commanders, was captured in an underground torture chamber, five others were killed. Most of the anti-Al Qaida operations have been conducted by Iraqi military and security forces.
‘Iraqi forces received intelligence on a very dangerous terrorist known as the number-one butcher who was responsible for a beheading squad that slaughtered innocent people,’ Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed Al Askari said.
Dang, looks like I missed that in the U.S. media too!
Look at the opportunities that the surge created for us in Iraq. It is what it is hoped will happen in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well. . .
Over the last six months, Iraqi forces, bolstered by the Sunni-dominated Sahwa auxiliary police, have driven Al Qaida squads out of villages in Diyala. In some villages, the Baghdad government has restored order and established municipal councils to provide services.
‘Sahwa walks hand and hand with the Americans and that’s extremely bad for us,’ a Sunni insurgent in Faluja told the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. ‘There is no doubt we have been weakened. The surge was never the problem. The Americans are not that dangerous. They have the technology, but they don’t know the topography. But we’ve been betrayed by our own brethren.’
You betcha!
link: Al Qaida ‘butcher’ known for beheadings of innocents, captured in Diyala
